County Lib-Dems’ undermined by Clegg’s highways cuts (10th February

David Munro, Executive Member for Transport, and David Hodge, Chairman of the Transport Select Committee at Surrey County Council, both expressed themselves astonished today that Surrey’s Lib-Dems were calling for increases in highways spending. Last year they voted against increases in highways spending. At Westminster Nick Clegg has proposed spending £1bn less on highways were he to be Prime Minister.

“Last year Surrey Lib-Dems voted to only spend £4m on our highways and now we see that their party leader would cut £1bn from the national highways budget. It is now clearer than ever that the Liberal Democrats cannot be trusted to run anyone’s highways. Yet again we see that they say one thing to one audience whilst their true intentions are quite different”, remarked Cllr. Munro. “It would be the height of irresponsibility to cut highways spending during a recession when our transport system underpins the proper working of our economy”.

Cllr. Hodge added, “whilst Surrey’s Conservative County Councillors have done our utmost to find extra monies for our roads despite getting insufficient funding out of Whitehall, the Lib-Dems have constantly derided our efforts whilst doing precious little to help. Now we see that they were all talk. I cannot take anything that Surrey’s Lib-Dems say about highways seriously whilst Nick Clegg is pursuing such a ridiculous and ill-considered policy”.